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California CIO: Open source officially welcome here

The CIO of the state of California has issued an IT policy letter affirming …

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the state of California has issued an IT policy letter to formally affirm that open source software is acceptable for use by government agencies in California.

As the state lies crushed beneath the burden of an unprecedented $20 billion deficit, government officials are looking for ways to cut spending and manage infrastructure more efficiently. Reducing vendor lock-in and giving more consideration to free and open source software could help the state improve its financial health.

The same dynamic is also true at the national level. Last year, the national governments of Canada and the UK both began formulating open source IT strategies. The US Department of Defense, which has a history of open source advocacy, issued a memo last year highlighting the advantages of open source adoption.

Open source software isn't necessarily a silver bullet for cheap IT, however, and can potentially increase support and deployment costs while decreasing licensing costs. It's important for these factors to be taken into consideration when governments evaluate open source software. Much like the DoD memo, California's IT policy letter stops short of mandating a preference for open source solutions. It provides formal clarification that open source technology is a valid option that should be considered alongside other available technologies.